Ha, this one I must see, I want to see how DAP Guan Eng and YB Fuziah of Kuantan and the Anti Lynas and Himpunan Hijau leaders and supporters, self appointed defenders of the Malaysian Environment and passionate Anti Lynas personalities handle this dangerous toxic waste problem which may prove detrimental to the people of Pulau Pinang. So where will the toxic byproduct be stored or disposed? Are there any written guaranteees by the plant operators that it will be safe for the people.

I have an idea, its not too late to start a Himpunan Hijau demo, you anti Lynas boys and girls sure love to demo ya, especially in Pulau Pinang like the apparently very "successful" Himpunan Hijau in Kuantan apparently organised by the DAP led Pakatan. Perhaps they can get more than 50,000 supporters as DAP led Government in Pulau Pinang just love a clean environment for their children don't they :). Hell they cared so much about the safety of the people of Pahang they will surely come in greater numbers for Pulau Pinang's people' sake..he he. Perhaps that brave leader of himpunan Hijau who gave a 24 hour ultimatum to the BN led Federal Government can do the same to the DAP led Penang State Government. I hope I am not disappointed, I hope Wong Tack is not a wimp when faced with his heroes in the DAP State Gomen in Penang.

Penangites better be warned that great health risk is lurking at your doorsteps. A massive RM2.2bil solar panel manufacturing plant had been given the go ahead by the State government.

And this was despite that a plant with similar manufacturing operations in China was forced to close down not too long ago because of health risks.

The reason – effluent from a large solar cell manufacturer in Zhejiang Province had wiped out a local fishing industry. It is a known fact that the manufacturing of Photovoltaics would pollute the environment and affect human health.

A similar threat is now looming over the Province Wellesley people in Penang where a similar plant is being built in Batu Kawan. Their fate is now in the hands of the Penang government to stop the setting up of the plant.

Although Robert Bosch GmbH claims it is delaying construction of the plant, its president for South East Asia Martin Hayes had said that the company remained committed in the construction of the plant in Penang.

However there are contradictions here. InvestPenang general manager Loo Lee Lian had said that the state government would do its best to expedite the solar panel project.

She also said that Robert Bosch had started to make payments to fulfill the terms and conditions of the sale of the 80-acre site for the plant in Batu Kawan.

Construction of the plant was scheduled to start end of last year with production process to begin end of 2013.

Ironically Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had been vocal on the Lynas rare earth plant in Gebeng but had failed to see the great significance and even greater health risk confronting the people with the setting up of a solar panel plant.

He had also pledged that he would never allow any rare earth plant to be built in Penang but surprisingly had closed a blind eye and given the nod to the solar panel manufacturing plant to be built.Probably Guan Eng is suffering from temporary blindness or is adopting selective criticism on health hazard projects so long they are not located in states governed by Pakatan Rakyat.

But when unfavourable or danger projects are at the doorstep of Penang, Guan Eng as usual would turn a blind eye or worse still sing a different tune.

What is even more interesting is that unconfirmed reports had said that Robert Bosch was asked to “slow down” on its construction plans until DAP retains the state in the coming general election.

Does that mean that after the general election and if the DAP still holds the Chief Minister’s seat, then the project to build the plant could go ahead full steam, regardless that it poses health risk to the people.

If I may coin the slogan for DAP, it should be – Winning First, People Last, in comparison to Barisan Nasional’s 1Malaysia slogan People First, Performance Now.

For those who do not know the dangers of photovoltaic, below are some of the scientific findings about its dangers.

Photovoltaics involves the conversion of sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity through the use of thin layers of materials known as semiconductors.

Solar energy doesn’t pollute the environment when they generate electricity. But the manufacturing and waste-storage part involve hazardous and toxic chemicals.

One main area of concern is the waste chemicals and materials used and produced from the manufacturing process which include:

Brominated flame retardant like brominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) are recognized as toxic and carcinogenic. Described as endocrine disrupters.

Cadmium : extremely toxic. Cadmium is used in the manufacturing of Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) cells. Potential health impacts include kidney, liver, bone, and blood damage from ingestion and lung cancer from inhalation. The acute health effects from inhalation of Cadmium include pneumonitis, pulmonary edema, and death.

Sulphur Hexafluoride: used to clean the reactor used in silicon production. If it escapes, it would be a very potent greenhouse gas.

Arsenic compounds increases risk of cancer.These substances are harmless if safely contained and not leaked into the environment, but will be hazardous to health if not properly stored and handled.

There is also the concern of occupational hazard in the PV production line; a solar panel is made of pure silicon, a hard metalloid with a metallic luster that is basically harmless. However, inhaling silicon dust can cause harmful effects to the respiratory system and may result in silicosis, which are scars that form on lung tissue and interfere with oxygen transport.

Well I hope Guan Eng or his cronies read all of the above so that they cannot claim ignorance of the dangers of having a solar manufacturing plant.

Guan Eng owes an explanation to Penangites on why he had allowed such a plant to be set up in Penang when it obviously poses great health risk to the people.

He should also reveal how much did Robert Bosch paid for the 80-acre state land.

Was an Environmental Impact Assessment Study carried out before the approval was given to Robert Bosch to set up the plant.

If at all, no EIA was carried out, why was it overlooked when DAP is always the first to call for such studies to be done or is there more than what meets the eye. Let us have the answers?

2 comments:

Thanks for visiting shi, you might like to read this resource where you will hopefully find the answer: The Rare Earth Crisis—The Supply/Demand Situation for 2010–2015 http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/sigma-aldrich/technical-documents/articles/material-matters/the-rare-earth-crisis.html